and as Merryweather supervised he wondered why he had earlier felt so uneasy. The house party was clearly going to proceed swimmingly.
After dinner, when the men joined the ladies in the drawing room, Lord Burford made a short speech. 'While everybody's here I'd like to explain something about our security system. As you know, there's a lot of very valuable stuff here -paintings, silver and personal jewellery, its well as quite famous collections of stamps, first editions, and coins. In addition, of course, there are my firearms and ammunition, which mustn't fall into the wrong hands. So to be on the safe side we've had a unique and, we think, foolproof burglar alarm installed. The drawback is that not only can nobody get in without setting it off, but nobody can get out either. Your bedroom windows will open six inches only. If you should force them wider - and, of course, you can do that quite easily in an emergency - or open or break any other window, unlock or force a door, you'll trigger the alarm off. Merryweather switches on - or if we're having a late night, I do - last thing after locking up, so I'm afraid that it's just not possible to go for a stroll in the grounds after that. Sorry.'
Peabody said: 'You can turn it off, I suppose, Earl? There is a master switch?'
'No. We wanted to be as secure as they could make us, and we had to think of the possibility of a really serious burglar—'
'Like this Wraith guy, huh?'
'Exactly. We had to think of the possibility of a thief like that bribing a servant to turn it off. So the thing's on a time switch. After it's primed it stays on until the morning, when it switches off automatically - at six-thirty this time of year.'
'What would happen if a door had to be opened at night?' Adler asked. 'To let a doctor in, say, if someone was taken ill.'
'We'd just have to put up with the alarm bells for five minutes or so. Actually, they wouldn't cause too much of a disturbance. There's one in my bedroom, one in the butler's, and one in the hall. Unless you were a very light sleeper or left your door open, I doubt if you'd hear it in your room. Now, who's for bridge?'
Two games were soon started, one involving Lord Burford, Peabody, Felman, and Thornton; and the other Carrie Peabody, Richard, Algy, and Evans. Lady Burford sat with Mrs. Carpenter, who did not play.
Meanwhile, Gerry took Adler off to hunt for the entrance to the secret passage. Deveraux also expressed an interest in seeing it and went along too. Jane made up the fourth.
Gerry led the way across the great hall to the breakfast room, which was at the eastern end of the main block. She went in, switching on the lights. The room was oak panelled and had french windows leading onto the front terrace. Heavy velvet curtains were at present drawn across them.
Gerry perched herself on the edge of the mahogany table and smiled at Adler. 'Right. It's all yours.'
He stared round. 'I don't know where to start.'
Deveraux said: 'Can I help?'
'Sure. I figure I'm going to need it.'
'If we find it, I'll expect a half-share of your winnings.'
'I'm not at all sure that's fair,' Jane said. 'Mr. Deveraux is an authority on English country houses. He'll know just where to look. I think they're out to break you, Gerry.'
'I'm no authority, I assure you,' said Deveraux. 'I haven't started to write the bally book yet. My entire knowledge of secret passages is drawn from the storybooks of my misspent boyhood.'
The room itself was sparsely furnished. Apart from the table, there was only a large sideboard and a dozen or so upright chairs placed round the walls. A large cupboard was built into one wall. For over ten minutes, while Gerry and Jane sat on the table, smoking and making unhelpful remarks, Deveraux and Adler examined the room. They tapped at panels, twisted, pulled and pushed at each small protuberance, and stamped on every accessible inch of the floor. Eventually they were forced to give up.
Gerry stubbed out her
After dinner, when the men joined the ladies in the drawing room, Lord Burford made a short speech. 'While everybody's here I'd like to explain something about our security system. As you know, there's a lot of very valuable stuff here -paintings, silver and personal jewellery, its well as quite famous collections of stamps, first editions, and coins. In addition, of course, there are my firearms and ammunition, which mustn't fall into the wrong hands. So to be on the safe side we've had a unique and, we think, foolproof burglar alarm installed. The drawback is that not only can nobody get in without setting it off, but nobody can get out either. Your bedroom windows will open six inches only. If you should force them wider - and, of course, you can do that quite easily in an emergency - or open or break any other window, unlock or force a door, you'll trigger the alarm off. Merryweather switches on - or if we're having a late night, I do - last thing after locking up, so I'm afraid that it's just not possible to go for a stroll in the grounds after that. Sorry.'
Peabody said: 'You can turn it off, I suppose, Earl? There is a master switch?'
'No. We wanted to be as secure as they could make us, and we had to think of the possibility of a really serious burglar—'
'Like this Wraith guy, huh?'
'Exactly. We had to think of the possibility of a thief like that bribing a servant to turn it off. So the thing's on a time switch. After it's primed it stays on until the morning, when it switches off automatically - at six-thirty this time of year.'
'What would happen if a door had to be opened at night?' Adler asked. 'To let a doctor in, say, if someone was taken ill.'
'We'd just have to put up with the alarm bells for five minutes or so. Actually, they wouldn't cause too much of a disturbance. There's one in my bedroom, one in the butler's, and one in the hall. Unless you were a very light sleeper or left your door open, I doubt if you'd hear it in your room. Now, who's for bridge?'
Two games were soon started, one involving Lord Burford, Peabody, Felman, and Thornton; and the other Carrie Peabody, Richard, Algy, and Evans. Lady Burford sat with Mrs. Carpenter, who did not play.
Meanwhile, Gerry took Adler off to hunt for the entrance to the secret passage. Deveraux also expressed an interest in seeing it and went along too. Jane made up the fourth.
Gerry led the way across the great hall to the breakfast room, which was at the eastern end of the main block. She went in, switching on the lights. The room was oak panelled and had french windows leading onto the front terrace. Heavy velvet curtains were at present drawn across them.
Gerry perched herself on the edge of the mahogany table and smiled at Adler. 'Right. It's all yours.'
He stared round. 'I don't know where to start.'
Deveraux said: 'Can I help?'
'Sure. I figure I'm going to need it.'
'If we find it, I'll expect a half-share of your winnings.'
'I'm not at all sure that's fair,' Jane said. 'Mr. Deveraux is an authority on English country houses. He'll know just where to look. I think they're out to break you, Gerry.'
'I'm no authority, I assure you,' said Deveraux. 'I haven't started to write the bally book yet. My entire knowledge of secret passages is drawn from the storybooks of my misspent boyhood.'
The room itself was sparsely furnished. Apart from the table, there was only a large sideboard and a dozen or so upright chairs placed round the walls. A large cupboard was built into one wall. For over ten minutes, while Gerry and Jane sat on the table, smoking and making unhelpful remarks, Deveraux and Adler examined the room. They tapped at panels, twisted, pulled and pushed at each small protuberance, and stamped on every accessible inch of the floor. Eventually they were forced to give up.
Gerry stubbed out her
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